Celebrity Influence? Not So Much.

By Kelly Amodeo

Celebrities are everywhere, endorsing everything from Jenny Craig to Ford trucks. They can always be in the limelight if they choose. And what better way to use their fame than in politics?...more 

Money on My Mind

By Carol Ash   

Money is the root of all evil. That’s what people say but that’s not the correct quote. It’s The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. This could be argued, debated, and discussed in a million different forums in a million different places, but I’m willing to bet at the end most will come to the same conclusion...more

Change, Hot Potatoes and Accountability

By Antony J. Calderoni

By February 5, Americans should have an idea who their next president will be, yet what often goes unseen is the process by which this individual is chosen.  Those voting for any given candidate will do so under the strict rules and regulations of the Democratic and Republican parties...more 

Voter ID Law or Constitutional Restrictions?

By Brandy Emily   

Republicans in Indiana were accused of abandoning the poor and elderly when a Republican controlled General Assembly passed voter ID legislation three years ago. Now, as Indiana awaits the Supreme Court’s decision on the legislation, citizens of not only Indiana but from around the country should be outraged...more

Slogans and Decisions at the Polls

By Christine Fioretti

Campaign slogans are thought about for months before they show up. The candidates want to give you essentially what they are all about in a quick shot. If you are just looking at a sign or you are watching a debate on television, those words and slogans are all around the candidate. It is something visual and easy for you to remember while you are alone in the voting booth...more

My Kind of President

By Abdul-Aziz Hassan   

Other than the popular notion of “change” the central issue for all the candidates is one of identity. Senator Hillary Clinton could be the first woman, Barack Obama could be the first African American, Mitt Romney could be the first Mormon and John McCain could be the oldest person in history to be elected president...more

A Moment of Truth

By Elisabeth Higgins

We cannot find truth in words read from a teleprompter, sponsored websites with dropdown “issues” menus or staged debates run by money-driven media corporations. So, we look for a show of true emotions, something tangible about the candidate that will allow us to connect on a level greater than political promises and bureaucrat-speak...more

What Is Real and What Is Fake

By Kathleen Hurley   

Americans deal with change everyday, morning, noon and night.  In the morning we get up and the weather has changed.  When we go to work or school the message of change is constant. Media sends messages informing of changes in the market place.  We are a nation of change, one common factor everyone deals with...more

A Veteran Voter Waits to See

By Michelle Manzano

It is an election year and by all measures it seems to be a very exciting one. For the Democratic Party there is the possibility of an African- American, a female, and a Hispanic president.  But wait, rewind! What do you mean the possibility of a Hispanic president?...more

More Than Rhetoric

By John Robert Owens      

Our souls, spirits and livelihood have depended on the deceiver to only be fixed into an institution of his own, and leaving us to fend for ourselves. In light of this, in January of 2009, we will be delivered from this hand of corrupt power, into the hands of another frontier, a powerful force...more

When it Rains, it Pours

By Allyson Reboyras 

Tom Hanks character Jimmy Dugan, manager of the Rockford Peaches, yells at Evelyn Gardner for a bad play, making her run off and cry. This reminds me of Sen. Hillary Clinton, who had her own breakdown in the game of politics...more

A Campaign of Considered Opinion

By Adam Shafer

We were duped. We were all duped. Only in hindsight does it seem obvious. A year ago, Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, were projected to lead their respective parties. After all, they were purported to be the only candidates with enough experience and support to do so...more

Learning American

By Lana Turkic

To immigrants their new “home to be” is always explained as a melting pot, which includes people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, races and colors that melt together to become one, the United States of America. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani seems to have a different idea of a melting pot in his campaign...more